Chennai: City residents plan a trip throughout the ECR, OMR or GST to explore the attraction places on Sundays may have to pay it out because the Chengalpet district administration has decided to ban the entry of tourists to these places on August 15.
This for the first time tourist spots on the outskirts of the city were closed after the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic when most of the facilities and tourist attractions remained unbounded to the public.
Chengalpet Collector AR Rahul Nadh said in a press release that entries would not be allowed to monuments in the city of Mamallapuram Beach and Kovalam Beach, Mayaja in Kanathur, Kandaswamy Temple in Thiruporur in OMR and various temples in Adhiparasakhi Temple in Melmaruvathur and Vedanthangal Bird Sanctuary in the District for Public on that day.
This setting is an effort to check the spread of Covid-19 cases, he added.
Development comes after the district authority contemplates the choice to ban entries for tourists or reduce hours of visits to tourism objects in ECR and Mamallapuram, after tourists pamper attractions scattered throughout the city entertainment corridor during the weekend.
In particular, footsteps for monuments managed by the Indian Archaeological Survey (ASI) have seen a surge since two weeks ago.
But, there was a significant decline in their number last week.
R Stalin, a tour guide based in Mamallapuram, said that the number of people visiting Mamallapuram has dipped at least 50% during the last weekend.
“This is reduced on Saturday and there is absolutely no tourist vehicles from other states.
Most travelers on Saturday come from neighboring districts,” he said.
Official sources say that income inspectors will coordinate with other department officials regarding orders related to the closure of tourist attractions.